My old house is located at the westernmost end of the village, and it is a large slum. There are three main rooms on the south side of the yard, one and a half living in the east and one and a half living in the west. The three main rooms on the north side live in Erye’s family. Between the two main rooms are three wing rooms facing west, one and half living in their parents and the other and half giving to my uncle’s house. For a full eleven years, I spent an unforgettable childhood here!
The eaves of the wing room moved forward. My father built a shelf with wooden poles. It was covered with green gourd vines , and many gourd were hanged in front of the window, which looked very beautiful! There is a large flat stone on the ground in front of the window. You can lie on it to cool off in summer. Listen to the grandmother who is shaking a palm-legged fan and tell the cowherd and the Weaver Girl Tianhe match, and scary ghost stories!
In front of the wing room is a small vegetable field. There is a cherry tree at the base of the west wall. It grows as tall as the wall and has white cherries, which are sweet! There is also a grape seedling at the south end of the vegetable field. The grapes are not big and they are a little sour! Every July 7th day, I will stand under the grape trellis for a while, hoping to hear the whispers that the Cowherd and Weaver Girl say when they meet on the Magpie Bridge!
There is a straw shed in front of the window of grandparents. The straw shed is next to the pigpen. There is a toon tree , which is as thick as a bowl on the wall of the pigpen. It is six or seven meters high. The leaves in spring are green. In autumn, the branches and red leaves are flying, which is very poetic and picturesque! Unfortunately, it was later sawed off by the father who was the captain. The reason was that the "cutting the tail of capitalism " year and month, the tree exceeded the regulations of the homestead. In the southwest corner is a thatched cottage, and there is a big willow tree next to it with lush branches and leaves. Perhaps because of its age, the heart of the tree is empty, and there are many ant crawling in and out. To the west of the slum is a large vegetable garden, which is shared by the three families. Each of them planted tomato seedlings, eggplant seedlings, bean seedlings and cucumber seedlings, as well as leeks, spinach, celery, coriander, carrots and cabbage . The villages are covered with lentil seedlings and trumpet flowers. There are two thatched houses on the east side of the North Gate. The three families put some hay and peanut seedlings and inside to keep them for feeding animals. There is a peach tree at the base of the east wall of the vegetable garden. It is a "peach grafted by my father." It blooms brightly in spring. When autumn is approaching, the branches are full of red peaches. We climbed up the tree, picked it down and put it in the basket, and gave it to our grandparents for food. They had a great time eating!
Under the east wall of the south end of the vegetable garden, there is a taller toon tree that is taller than the main house. My brothers and I often stand on the wall and pick the tender toon buds and eat it. Looking southwest, a pond comes into our eyes. It is the fish pond of the brigade. In spring, frogs are constantly ringing from morning to night, and there are often swims of tadpoles on the shore, and the shallow ditch is plowed to the shore to breathe. In summer, men go to the pond to swim, and adults wash away the fatigue and sweat of the day, while children catch fish, shrimps and toads, and their faces are blushing when they choke. In autumn, the leaves of the weeping willow are blown to the water by the wind, and it looks like a layer of gold plated. The little fish are rippling on the water with the leaves. Winter is coming, and thick ice covers the pond. The children sit on homemade ice trucks, with their arms behind them, scrambling to compete to see who can skate and become the ice king. Some other children pumped gyroscope hard, letting their hands freeze red... There is a canal in the southwest corner of the pond. The brigade used a water pump to irrigate thousands of acres of crops in the west of the village. Next to the water pump are two noodle machines. The wheat from several villages is ground into flour here. The housewives make flour into steamed buns, noodles or pancakes for relatives and family to enjoy! The eldest sister gained love here because her brother-in-law is a noodle grinder in the noodle machine room.
I don’t know when my elder sister and my brother-in-law started dating, but I only know that my elder sister often goes to grind noodles. When my elder sister was 23 years old, they got married. My brother-in-law is a handsome talent. After becoming a soldier, he became an employee of a large steel factory in Shanxi. He is an advanced production worker every year. After returning to the door three days after marriage, the sister-in-law caused a lot of hardships! There were the second sisters in my family, the girl from my aunt's house, the big brother-in-law of the big brother-in-law of the big brother-in-law, and the bad girl from the second brother-in-law. They chased my brother-in-law and hit him with a broom. My brother-in-law had to hide behind her mother and avoid all kinds of attacks.While eating, the girl was holding a plate of steaming dumplings with a smile. I reached out to eat it. The girl said loudly, "Si'er, give it to my brother-in-law first!" As he said that, he put the dumpling plate in front of his brother-in-law. The smart brother-in-law picked up one dumpling after another with chopsticks. As a result, the plate of dumplings were filled with black pig food for pig feeding. Outside the window, the sister-in-law laughed!
The eldest sister and brother-in-law are both filial to their parents. It is a legend among the three miles, five villages, ten miles, and eight villages!
When I was four years old, my mother suffered a serious illness and her life was in danger! I was still sipping milk by the adults and were with Brother Lifeng. Brother Lifeng didn't know what disease he had. He had a lot of sores on his body and had yellow water flowing. He had to cook electricity every day. After he got sick, he took over his uncle's work and became a doctor, serving the people for the rest of his life!
From the eyes of adults with tears in his eyes, he learned that his mother's illness was very serious and he was already in shock. ! The barefoot doctors invited by my father could not cure my mother's illness. Many relatives wiped their tears, some even gave advice, and were more sad! I lay obediently on the tip of the kang in the east room of my aunt's house, curling helplessly like a kitten. Two days later, my father invited a doctor Qi from a distance, but he didn't know what medicine he used. My mother miraculously woke up, slowly ate, and gradually recovered. My mother, who had worked hard for life, raised six children, and lived at the age of 85. She held my hand at the end of her life and left peacefully!
On a Sunday in the spring of my second grade, the teacher led all the students in our elementary school, holding branches made of wire and colorful paper, to welcome the PLA uncle who came to the village to train at the entrance of the village. One ten-wheeled truck after another, leading the large-caliber cannon covered with cannon coats, and rushed to the ground without wheat in the west of the village. Those PLA uncles who "wear a red star on their heads and the revolutionary red flag hung on both sides" jumped out of the truck and quickly repaired the cannon position with tools. Due to the cold weather, explosives were even moved in some places. Soon, the cannon was placed on the eight repaired cannon positions, with its head held high. Every household welcomes the PLA officers and soldiers who live from home like the New Year. A squad of PLA uncles came to the east room of my aunt's house. After they cleaned the yard, they fed water into the water tanks of the three families until the yard was cleaned and the water tank was filled with water, and they were still talking incomprehensible southern dialect. As the captain of the brigade, his father was even more busy, checking the residences of the PLA officers and soldiers from door to door to help them solve practical difficulties!
It was summer. The soldiers were wearing vests on the upper body and shorts on the lower body. The eldest aunt of my uncle was an unmarried girl. Seeing this scene, "Oh my God" and he never wanted to go out again! The news soon made the superiors know. The class meeting was held in the evening. At the meeting, the soldiers all criticized themselves. The squad leader apologized to his uncle and also informed the situation at the general military conference to eliminate all violations of mass discipline! Since then, the soldiers have wore vests on the upper body and grass-green military pants on the lower body. The eldest aunt also hummed a song to work on the ground.
The food of the PLA uncle is enviable. They can often eat rice and steamed buns and pork. They even use bayonets on their guns to kill pigs! There is a movie every week, and in front of the projector, there are uniform officers and soldiers sitting on the military stool in high spirits, with a strict military appearance! The movies screened are basically war movies, including " Strike the Invaders ", " Heroes Children ", " Three-in-City Mountain City "...
One evening, the soldiers were having dinner, and the sound of emergency gathering sounds suddenly sounded. The officers and soldiers threw down their bowls and quickly took their place. The cannons took off their cannon coats, and the muzzles pointed straight into the sky, waiting for battle! A red signal flare appeared in the sky in the northwest, dragging long smoke, and the planes ✈️ dropped parachutes. Everything had a war atmosphere. Later, it was learned that it was a military exercise.It was the time when relations with the Soviet revisionist were tense. The great man called on the people of the whole country to: "Dig deep holes, accumulate grain, and do not seek hegemony!" The Chinese People's Liberation Army is always ready to eliminate all enemies who dare to invade!
About half a year later, one day at midnight, the troops quietly withdrew, cleaned the house and yard clean, and the water in the water tank was full of water, without taking away a needle or thread! People in the village often talk about them, and they are left behind in the village to help with their work and farming, which truly reflects the friendship between the military and the civilians! Those cute and amiable images of soldiers have emerged in front of my eyes for many years, so that being a soldier has become my ideal, and later, 21 years of military career has become my lifelong glory!
The old house silently records every bit of our life and labor, from the death of the old man at home (second master and grandma), the marriage of his elder sister, to the installation of electric lights and radio speakers in each household, and the deputy commander defected and died in Mongolia, the Criticism of Lin and Confucius movement, and the successful convening of the Fourth National People's Congress... Everything was until a major earthquake that shocked the world occurred on July 28, 1976. The old house was razed to the ground, erasing the old house, leaving behind the continuation of the years and the hard struggle of the people in my hometown!
